At first read, the title of this series sounds very much like A Midsummer Night's Dream : Do I dare suggest that the team that went from 99 to 96 to 96 to 92 losses the past five seasons needs to do only three things to compete? The next number to that Arithmetic Progression up there is between 88...

The mantra has been the same over the last month, regardless of the source. “The best division in baseball? You have to think it’s the AL Central.” or “The most competitive division this season looks to be the AL Central!” No matter how it is framed, the reasons listed are always the same:

Spring training is meaningful. Jobs are won and lost as a result. They should be.

Statistics from spring training exhibition games have no meaning. They should not be kept, reported or used in support of roster making decisions. I hope the Twins don't keep them or use them. Not only is the data in a sample too small to be meaningful but the level of comp...

All New Talk To Contact Podcast !
Paul is a cranky pants this week, I think he hates Spring Training. We dive into that assumption and figure out what the heck the Twins are doing for the next couple weeks. We're joined this week by Jeremy Nygaard from TwinsDaily.com to talk more about prospects, pitching, and even a little fantasy baseball. Then, as alw...

The first two entries in this series focused on players who are moving up in the system and the question is one of advancing to AA baseball, which is really (Jorge Polanco 2014 aside) the real first glimpse of closeness to the majors that a minor leaguer can see. For the final installment, I am turning to another major step in the system--full season A ba...

I originally wrote the following analysis of Terry Ryan as GM of the Minnesota Twins for The National Pastime, 2012: Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State. I was the editor of the publication—one I heartily recommend by the way for those interested in the history of baseball in Minnesota--and pulled the essay just prior to publicat...

“People ask me what I do in the winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
Roger Hornsby

Part I: Arrival in Fort Myers and Baseball
March 2013 Hammond Stadium: I’m sitting in the 90-degree heat (down the third base line) with my then four-year-old son. I’m in-between bullpen and dugout, and we’...

It was 1977, Jimmy Carter had just become president. New York City celebrated the opening of the World Trade Center and suffered through a 25-hour black out in the middle of a hot summer. Two guys named Steve (Jobs and Wozniak) gave us the Apple II computer. The Vikings were beaten by the Raiders in the Super Bowl...

I will be at spring training for the fourth straight year. I have watched three straight non-contending teams gear up for a disappointing regular season. I have seen impressive individual performances that didn't stand up to regular season pressures. I have seen guys showing obvious potential take a step from prospect to established player and others n...

I've been looking at the blog section of the site lately and see that it hasn't gotten any TLC since launch. I made some small changes to how the blogs are listed in the mobile section of the site this morning and that got me thinking... I'm not a blogger. I should ask you bloggers what you want changes you'd like to see made to the site.

First, the results. Then, how in the heck I got them. We’ll use Wins Above Replacement (WAR) to assess how well the Twins have drafted in the first round from 2003 to 2011 compared to the rest of the league.

From 2003-2011, the Twins’ first-round picks were:
23rd in expected WAR per pick. This is an indication of their consistently low draft positi...

Like the Rebels preparing for the Imperial invasion on Hoth, it’s time to dust off this hunk of junk. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts. Was that enough Star Wars references in one sentence? Probably not. I’ll see what else I can do for you.

We took a bit of a break during the offseason. It wasn’t our plan, we just don’t follo...

My friend asked Terry to handicap CF at Twinsfest. He did not mention Hicks at all. The first name he mentioned was Eddie Rosario. When asked about CF versus a corner, Terry said Eddie is definitely good enough to play CF.

He seemed to hint again, at Sano in the OF if Plouffe continues to improve

In case you missed it, there's a new Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

I know that, for many fans, that may come as a shock. There are fans that legally enjoy a brew or two at ballgames who have never attended a big league game that wasn't played under rules dictated by Bud Selig. If it's true that, "the exception proves the rule," then that applies...

Back in 2007, the Twins were faced with a dilly of a difficult dilemma. Fan-favorite, team-leader, Morneau-puncher Torii Hunter was a free agent and he was going to be pricey. Ultimately, Hunter chose a larger offer from The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the Anaheim Angels or whatever they were called...

I've recently been reading The New Bill James Historical Abstract, and at one point he offhandedly mentioned who would be on an all-time Oklahoma team. Naturally like most Minnesotans, this made me wonder who would be on an all-time Minnesota team. But unlike most Minnesotans, I actually sat down and tried to figure it out.

January 1st has a much different tenor in 2015 than it did in 2014 for Ricky Nolasco. A year ago, Ricky had recently signed the largest free agent contract in Twins history (though that's not saying much) with the expectation of being a veteran presence to help stabilize a rotation that was in shambles. After a disastrous 2014 campaign, suddenly the idea...